Abstract
Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has been previously manufactured using mechanical exfoliation and chemical vapor deposition methods, which make the large-scale synthesis of uniform h-BN very challenging. In this study, we produced highly uniform and scalable h-BN films by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition, which were characterized by various techniques including atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The film composition studied by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Auger electron spectroscopy corresponded to a B:N stoichiometric ratio close to 1:1, and the band-gap value (5.65 eV) obtained by electron energy loss spectroscopy was consistent with the dielectric properties. The h-BN-containing capacitors were characterized by highly uniform properties, a reasonable dielectric constant (3), and low leakage current density, while graphene on h-BN substrates exhibited enhanced electrical performance such as the high carrier mobility and neutral Dirac voltage, which resulted from the low density of charged impurities on the h-BN surface.
Highlights
Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has been previously manufactured using mechanical exfoliation and chemical vapor deposition methods, which make the large-scale synthesis of uniform h-BN very challenging
We describe the large-scale synthesis of uniform h-BN films by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-Atomic layer deposition (ALD)), which are characterized by highly flat surfaces, high uniformity, and controllable thickness at low temperatures (250–350 °C)
The h-BN growth rate was equal to 1.1 Å/cycle, while the precursor exposure time was maintained constant at 5 s
Summary
Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) has been previously manufactured using mechanical exfoliation and chemical vapor deposition methods, which make the large-scale synthesis of uniform h-BN very challenging. CVD enables the large-scale synthesis of h-BN films, CVD-grown h-BN layers exhibited highly non-uniform properties across the film surface, such as wide thickness and dielectric constant distributions. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a thin film deposition technique that is capable of producing uniform large-scale films, which are characterized by conformality to high aspect ratio structures, and highly controllable thicknesses at relatively low temperatures. We describe the large-scale synthesis of uniform h-BN films by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PE-ALD), which are characterized by highly flat surfaces, high uniformity, and controllable thickness at low temperatures (250–350 °C). The morphology and composition of the obtained films were investigated by various optical and spectroscopic analytical methods, and their ability to be potentially used as substrates for graphene field-effect transistors (GFETs) has been demonstrated
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